Previewing edits

I desperately need help with previewing edits I make in After Effects.

I am editing video footage that has graphics coming in on top of it. I am trying to view the video footage and pause where my graphics will come in. I can do that fine enough (though the workflow is not great), but I can't see the edits I just made without re-buffering or doing a RAM preview again. This is taking up so much time. How can I know if my timing is good without rendering after every freaking change? There has got to be a better workflow than this.

You can work and RAM preview at a lower resolution, like like 1/2 or 1/4. That really speeds things up. It's also helpful to shut off effects that aren't needed for what you are adjusting. For example, if you have a Lens Blur or particles that don't affect how the timing of a text layer or camera moves, shut those effects off until you have the timing down.

Finally, you may want to look into working with proxies. The feature is made for situations like this. Hope that helps!